Half Of A Whole
by LiviLottie
Summary: They say our mistakes make us who we are; and they're right. They shape our lives and set us on the right path; and sometimes that path can be to somewhere you least expect it. For Allison Nolan it was the road towards Daryl Dixon. Daryl/OFC OC


_"Without you I feel broke, Like half of a whole."_

_-Sad Song, We The Kings._

* * *

Alice had been contemplating a route towards the Atlanta refugee centre when she came across Jenny, Duane and Morgan. Jenny had been running a fever when she found them in King County gas station, filling up. Both parties had initially become hostile on first sight as the new world had made them out of necessity for survival. Alison had seen the pain in Jenny's eyes and unable to leave a woman to suffer she offered her help. That had been the first time she'd ever seen the change. Naively she had tended to the bite and used everything her medical training had taught her to try and lower the fever. But after what seemed like a lifetime the inevitable happened, and despite her best efforts Jenny passed.

Though the woman didn't stay that way for long. It had been while Alice stood in the doorway and watched mournfully as the father and son said their goodbyes, Jenny's veined grey-mocha hands rose only to entwine themselves in Duane's hair, her dead eyes a diluted brown and her jaw snapping rabidly open and closed like some-kind of deranged animal. The boy had cried out in sheer joy at the site of his mother alive, It took a second... a single second to realise she was dead in every way that counted. It had been Alison that had taken action, It had been Alison who hesitated; unable to kill what had been such a kind woman. Once again it took a second; Though this time it was a second too long. Jenny had thrown herself on Alice, The two women fell to the ground as Jennies dead hands clawed at her cotton covered stomach.

It had been Morgan who pulled her off, In a moment of strength Alice threw herself to her feet and staggered at the door and swung it open. The singular corpse on the street turned towards the noise, Morgan thrust the corpse of his wife towards the door.

The young woman slammed the barrier in her face and the never seizing scratching began, She immediately turned and pulled the locks across. "We need to barricade these doors." She told Morgan completely exhausted as she slid down the door feeling utterly defeated and struggling for breath.

Alice stared up diverting her eyes from her calloused hands, her knees scraped and her back aching. Morgan was on his knees, His face buried in his hands, tears rolled down his cheeks onto his shirt. Duane had entered the lounge and stared at the door behind her, two broken beings. One had lost a mother and the other a wife, Alison had no idea how to console either, so she did the only thing she could think of, She sat and stayed perfectly still.

* * *

That was two weeks ago now and the trio had still not made any further progress towards the refugee centre. They hadn't the courage always reasoning they had a set up here it wasn't worth the risk as without any transmissions the three were completely in the dark. They had long since fortified, All doors and windows were boarded shut and blankets were kept on the window frames as not to attract unwanted corpse activity.

"Were running low on supplies Morgan." Alice brought up one morning somewhere in their third week of hiding within the old house in King County.

"We'll last until tomorrow" the older man contradicted her calmly, his voice holding an air of sedation around him as he stared out the slat in the window.

"We can't keep putting the inevitable."

"We don't know how bad it's got out there, Al."

"Well we need to find out. We can't just hide away for the rest of our lives. This isn't living, Its surviving."

"I don't see the difference." Morgan acknowledged, ominously staring out the window.

"I won't leave you and Duane, Once you go through something like this with someone... I love you both; Like my own family. But we can't stay here, I don't want to keep breathing if this is all that's left." Alice confessed.

Morgan slowly twisted around, his face thoughtful. "Fine. Perhaps you're right." He muttered in surrender.

"I'll go out now. You stay with Duane."

"I wanna' go, Daddy."

"We can't-"

"He has to learn eventually." Morgan cut her off uncharacteristically harshly.

They had snuck out the back. Alice had her long blonde mane pulled back into a bun, her combat boots slapped against the ground as the sun beamed unforgiving upon her bare shoulders. She held the scavenged machete, who the hell had kept that in their house? She'd asked herself while thanking her lucky stars. The trio walked in a straight line, as they went garden to garden, Always on high alert.

Morgan held his hands open for her on his knee, while Duane took watch in front of them. Alice boosted herself off of his knee with some difficulty, '_She was a nurse not Lara Croft'_ she found herself muttering in her inner monologue, Errantly wondering why she couldn't have done some pull ups before the world went to shit.

Landing with a huff on her backside Alice heaved herself up, wiping her muddy grazed palms on her cargos. she was successfully on the other side of the fence, Pivoting she unlocked the gate. Stupidly she hadn't surveyed the perimeter before doing so, because as soon as she'd pulled the bolt, she was thrown into the fencing. A weight at her back as cold dead hands grabbed at her inked bare arms. She pushed back with all her weight as they both went tumbling, her backpack pushing the cans of food into her spine, She let out a muted shrill cry of pain. The corpse was on her again, grabbing at her bare throat. His dead milky eyes somehow full of hunger. She held his jaw in both hands and pushed, Suddenly what used to be a man stopped well... dead. A shovel pieced his skull and covered Alice's heaving chest in brains and blood, Pushing the walking corpse off of her body, she rolled onto her stomach and emptied what little remained in her stomach. She tried desperately to mop away her tears. She had experienced the true fear, of which she hadn't felt in such a long time since they'd hid away in the house.

"Sorry, Miss Alice. I didn't mean to..." he gestured to her clothes.

"No Duane_, Don't ever be sorry_." Alice commanded vehemently. "We can't afford to be sorry anymore and I should Thank You. For saving my life." Duane looked up at her beaming with pride before looking to his father for confirmation; which he was readily given.

"Last house and then head back?" Alice searched as she pulled the un-bloodied bottom of her shirt up to wipe the sweat of her face. Morgan gave no indication other than his nod as they entered the house.

* * *

The trio were walking through the cleared backyards when they heard "CARL?! LORI?!" They all turned towards the source of the noise.

"Another survivor?" Alice whispered her spirit raised by the fact that maybe they weren't the only ones. She went to sprint towards the noise when Morgan grabbed her arm.

"Might not be friendly." He muttered in his sedated way.

"There's only one way to find out." She told him defiantly as she took off towards the noise, She felt them following her. Alice knew it was reckless but her hope spurred her on. She didn't want to be afraid and alone anymore.

She came around the corner as she saw a walker in a hospital ground lounging on the ground, she scanned for any sign of the living when she saw another corpse shambling towards them. She sighed and stood defeated in front of the house, Her hope had been raised and broken. They snuck out slowly approaching the walker, Duane raised his shovel and smacked what used to be a man in the face. While she and Morgan snuck round to deal with the mobile one.

"**_Daddy! Daddy!_**"

_"...Carl... Carl... I found you.." _it? gasped

"_**Daddy I got the sonuvabitch! I'ma smack him dead!**_"

Morgan wasted no time in raising the gun and shooting the corpse in the head. They both rushed over.

"Did he say somethin'?" Alice questioned.

"...I thought I heard him say somethin'!" Morgan agreed

"He called me Carl." Duane replied shaken up.

"Son, you know they don't talk!"

"Hey, Mister! What's your bandage for? Have you been bitten?" Alice asked her eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her utterly confused.

"...Lori?.." He questioned his eyes drooping.

"What kind of wound is it? " Alison questioned ferociously, time was running out, walking corpses would be on them in seconds

"You answer her, damn you!" Morgan called cocking his gun as his voice was breaking in his frantic haze. "What's your wound? You tell me! or I will shoot you." Slowly the mans icy eyes rolled back into his head, as he suddenly lolled back.

"Damn it." Morgan cursed. "Can't leave him here."

"Grab his legs!. I'll check his wound at the house." Between them the two managed to lug the unconscious man back to the house.

* * *

After changing her t-shirt and scrubbing at her blood covered chest and grazed palm she finally began her examination. Slowly with trepidation Alice began to timidly peal at the bandage that lay on his side. Quickly the would became visible. "Ugh." She mumbled as she scrunched up her nose "This hasn't been changed for weeks. It reeks." As the final sticky surface left his body, she pulled back to examine further. "I'm gonna need a bowl of hot water and a cloth." She leaned forward her bare hands careful of infecting the wound. "From what I can tell, It's a bullet wound." Alice lugged his body up, to look at his back "No exit wound." She mumbled her brow furrowed. "This is definitely from before the virus hit. This could have only been done in the hospital; Hell, I've done em."

"You Sure?" Morgan questioned as he lay the cloth and bowl in front of her.

"_Thanks;_ and I've seen enough of em' to last me a life time." She muttered, her mind reminiscing to the times when her ex-husbands brother would stumble into their house and demand she fix him up. She dipped the cloth in the warm water and began to blot at his wound. It had healed nicely, it just got a bit putrid recently. The blonde began to bandage his abdomen once again, her hands were sure as every movement was controlled. This was her element, She was hardly the same person from earlier throwing up and crying. She lifted the bowl and stood wiping her hands which had touched the rank wound.

Alice's mind was occupied as she lay upon the couch; her mind racing. The thought of her ex had stirred unwelcome memories and worry that she had long since tried to bury. But he would always be her weak spot; her accilies heel.  
She tried not to dwell on why she so desperately wanted to get to Atlanta because the truth hurt. She wanted to see him, to make sure he had survived, Her love for him hadn't died with their divorce, She doubted it ever would. He was a hunter after all, If anyone had a chance it was him. She had to find him and make sure he was alive, the thought of him lifeless and ambling round aimlessly hurt her heart too much to even consider. She had to find her Hunter, She had to find Daryl. _After all she was the former Mrs Dixon._

* * *

**_A/N: Hia, This is my first Walking Dead fanfiction :D I love Daryl so I thought i'd give it a go. ;) Anyway please tell me if you'd like to see more. This was quite slow as an establishing chapter. things will speed up soon as a time skip will happen shortly. If you'd like to review to tell me how far I should skip that would be appreciated._**

**_Thankyou for reading please review _**

**_Olivia x (:_**


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